In a major initiative to plug loopholes in the Integrated Watershed Management Programmes, the Department of Land Resources, GoI has launched Neeranchal Regional Orientation Workshop for five States, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana here on Thursday.
Neeranchal is a Rs.2,142-crore World Bank-aided project of the Union Government that supports the watershed development component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
It will be implemented in nine States – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana – which account for 60 per cent of the rain fed areas in the country.
It’s a five-year project which will commence in April, 2017 and 2016 is the preparatory phase for the project, said Sandeep Dave, Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources (DoLR), speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the workshop.
In each of the nine States, two districts were identified to provide necessary interventions, guidance and support to the community for increasing crop productivity, milk yield, water availability and improving groundwater table, he said. A similar workshop was already held in Ahmedabad.
The Joint Commissioners of Rural Development, Wesley of Telangana and Sivaprasad of Andhra Pradesh, said that in the first phase, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar in Telangana and Anantapur and Chittoor in AP were selected.
Each district will have five watershed projects spread over 25,000 hectares. Gradually, the projects in each district would be increased to 40 and each State would get Rs. 200 crore from DoLR. The funding under the Neeranchal will be 60:40 between the Centre and the States.
The Integrated Watershed Management Programme, which has been under implementation since 2009-10, covers 39 million hectares in 8,214 ongoing watershed projects in 28 States at a cost of Rs. 50,000 crore. But it has been facing several challenges in achieving the desired outcome of increased crop productivity, improved groundwater table and enhanced participation of communities.
“This is where the Neeranchal project will help the State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA) in all the nine States under the watershed plus programme,” Dr. Dave said.
